“Twenty is a lot of points! I don’t want to pass up this opportunity just to take a stand.”

“I’m feeling generous. I’ll make it twenty-five.”

“Done. Okay. I was painting some concept frames for this other project I’m involved in.”

“. . .”

“JD?”

“I’m not giving you twenty-five points for that non-answer.”

“But I told you the truth!”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about. What’s a concept frame? What’s the other project? What’s the subject of the painting?”

“Playing hardball, I see.”

“Cough up the deets, Hoffman.”

“Okay, okay. I kind of . . . do this webcomic thing.”

“What do you mean, ‘webcomic thing’?”

“I mean that I’m the author and creator of one.”

“You create the story and do all the artwork and stuff?”

“Yeah. Well, most of it. I do a lot of the artwork on a design tablet, but first, when I’m still working everything out, I do concept frames on paper. When I get to the color-blocking parts, I often use watercolors to see what I like.”

“That is . . . really cool.”

“Really?”

“Seriously, it’s way cooler than I thought you were. You’ve just upped your game by about a hundred degrees.”

“Ha. I thought you’d think it was nerdy.”

“Nerdy stuff becomes cool once you’re out of high school. What’s the name of the webcomic?”

“Why?”

“Because I obviously want to search it.”

“Nah. That’s okay. I have enough readers already.”

“Spill! Why aren’t you telling me?”

“Well, I guess, to be honest, because I’ve never told anyone else? I kinda do the whole thing anonymously.”

“Oh. Okay, well, I don’t want to force you to tell me then. I obviously understand what it’s like to want to keep secrets.”

“. . .”

“Eliot? You there?”

“You’re, like, a Jedi master or something, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Now that you’re not making me tell you, all I want to do is tell you.”

“Ha. Then tell me! Honestly, if you’re gonna try telling somebody, doesn’t it make sense to tell someone who’s on the outside fringe of your life?”

“Right . . . right, okay. Well, it’s called Lotus.”

“Hold on. Gimme a sec . . . Is your author alias Lettermaze?”

“Yup. Did you find it?”

“Holy CRAP. Eliot, the artwork is gorgeous.”

“Thanks.”

“And you have . . . TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND subscribed readers on Digitoons? Look at these comments. Holy CRAP, people love this comic. Wow, you even keep up an Instagram account for it, too?”